


Old Instincts Die Hard

by RoseBlot



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Dib is one tall man, Kinda, Lots of Cursing, M/M, The Last Irken AU, ZaDr, Zim and Dib have a petty argument, Zim is a yearning dummy in denial, hangry Zim and Dib
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:14:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27974258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseBlot/pseuds/RoseBlot
Summary: Zim and Dib are almost finished with repairing the Irken’s Voot Cruiser. However, a very tired and hungry Zim decides to stir up trouble before the finishing touches can be made. The alien quickly discovers that agitating a very tall creature has concerning effects on him.This is something I wrote for Inimoose’s The Last Irken AU! You can check it out here: https://inimoose.tumblr.com/post/190692740569/the-last-irken-au-chapter-archive
Relationships: Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Zim (Invader Zim)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	Old Instincts Die Hard

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Although this is my first time posting on here, it is not my first time writing for this fandom! I’m super excited to make something ZaDr related again! 
> 
> Anyway, this piece was inspired by Inimoose’s The Last Irken AU. It’s really good and you should check it out!  
> https://inimoose.tumblr.com/post/190692740569/the-last-irken-au-chapter-archive

A soft huff left Zim as he grumpily crossed his arms in front of his chest. He craned his neck to look up at the human next to him, his pointed boot tapping impatiently on the floor. 

“Dib, it’s been almost two hours. I’m tired and hungry. Can we _please_ take a break?” 

Coming back into reality, Dib straightened up and lifted his welding helmet to get a better look at the Irken. His brows furrowed, and his lips pulled back in a tight line. 

“We are so close to being finished with the Voot Cruiser, and you want to stop _now_?” He couldn’t sound more incredulous even if he tried, “No, Zim. You can wait, like, five more minutes.” 

With that, Dib flicked the helmet back over his face and continued his work. The green being groaned out in frustration, yanking his antenna down his head. 

“Why am I still even here? If you’re so close to finishing then you don’t even need me!” Zim sighed out as he began to turn away, “I’m heading upstairs to look for foo—“ 

The Irken was prevented from taking another step as long fingers wrapped around his wrist. He slowly looked down to see Dib’s skinny digits tighten their grip around him. Zim couldn’t stop the embarrassing _‘eep!’_ that fell from his lips; he choked out a cough in an attempt to cover it up, a soft pink dusting his cheeks. 

After the alien finally calmed himself, he looked up to see Dib’s uncovered face again. A small smirk formed as the human let go of the much shorter being. 

“ _You_ are still here because this is _your_ Voot Cruiser, so _you_ should be supervising. Aren’t you worried that I’m going to sabotage it or something? Or not be good enough to repair such _superior_ technology?” Dib rolled his amber eyes at the last part, but Zim chose to ignore the sarcasm. 

“You’re just fixing cosmetic things now, nothing important. It’s not _that_ hard to weld...” 

_Also, I trust you,_ is what he wanted to add, but his pride was much too big to say that out loud. 

The lanky man narrowed his eyes as he looked down at his ex-nemesis. “Right... Anyway, you can’t go upstairs to get food—“ 

“And why not!?” Zim hardened his magenta orbs at the other, a small pout slowly forming. 

Beginning to feel frustrated with the Irken, Dib bit back a growl and closed his eyes. “If you would let me finish... then you would know that there is barely any food in our kitchen right now. We have to go grocery shopping, remember?” 

Zim’s face slightly fell as he felt his blush deepen from hearing the human call the kitchen _theirs_. He quickly shook his head to clear those thoughts and resumed his pouting.

“Fine! Then let’s get takeout! I’ll even call in the order myself!” 

It was Dib’s turn to groan and pull at his hair, “For the last time, Zim, _wait_! I have one more thing to do then we will be done. Now, hand me that wrench over there.” He pointed in a direction as he got on his knees next to the alien vehicle. 

“No! Get it yourself, _human_!” Zim stamped his foot and crossed his arms, looking as if he was trying to win a contest of stubbornness. 

“God, Zim, _please_ don’t do this. I’m just as tired and hungry as you are. Just... hand me the wrench, so I can finish this damn thing and we can fucking eat.” Dib let out a heavy sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, already feeling a ‘got into a petty argument with a hungry Zim’ migraine creeping its way to his forehead. 

“No, we can finish this after we eat. My Voot Cruiser isn’t going anywhere.” Zim stated, lifting his chin in the air out of defiance. 

“Zim, I swear to every god in existence, if you don’t hand me that fucking wrench...” Dib could feel his anger rising by the minute as he looked up at the Irken with a fiery stare. 

Something in the back of Zim’s mind screamed at him to stop agitating the (extremely tall) human and just do what he said. His desire to be noncompliant with Dib was louder though. Keeping his arms crossed, the Irken slowly walked up to the crouched professor and leaned forward. He felt like he was in a different and simpler time, a time where his only goal was to take over this rotten hellhole of a planet. His next words came out like sugary venom. 

“Get it yourself, _Dib-Stink_.” 

That was Dib’s breaking point. He bolted to his full height, easily towering over the green creature. “Dammit, Zim! I am not asking you again! Hand me the _fucking_ wrench!” He snarled, pointing his finger at the silvery tool. 

The Irken took a wobbly step back and felt his squeedily spooch _tighten_. Dib had never spoken to him like _that_ before. With the way the human was standing over him with that enraged glare, Zim struggled to keep his damn instincts at bay. 

Just as quickly as the man’s anger had peaked, it vanished. His face fell, his arm swiftly dropping to his side. With wide eyes, Dib lifted his hands up in front of him and spoke in a much softer tone, “Shit, I’m really sorry, Zim. I-I don’t know what came over me.” 

Those words had fallen on deaf antenna as Zim gaped up at the human. His PAK whirred frantically and sent all kinds of messages to his brain. 

_What have you done?_

_Apologize_ now! _Fix this!_

 _Get the wrench!_

_Respect, satisfy,_ _**obey.**_

Zim clumsily bowed before the long-legged human, his voice coming out in trembles, “Y-yes, my Tallest! I sincerely apologize!” 

The tensed atmosphere was immediately snuffed out by the alien’s words. Magenta eyes widened in mortification as it dawned on Zim what had just happened. 

_Oh, Irk._

He hesitantly shifted his gaze towards Dib, spotting a faint rouge bubbling up on his pale cheeks. One of his eyebrows arched as he gradually lowered his hands back to his sides. 

“Wh-wha—“ 

Zim dashed his way to the toolbox across the room and hastily looked for that cursed wrench. Once he found it, he shoved it into Dib’s hands and _literally_ flung himself up the stairs. 

“Okayyouhaveyourwrench. I’mgoingtoorderfoodnow. Doespizzasoundgood? Okaygreatbye.” 

_SLAM!_

Dib stared at nothing in particular, completely dumbfounded. The wrench fell out of his hands and landed with a _clang!_ The metallic sound broke him out of his stupor, and he blinked several times before pulling out a notepad and pen from his trench coat. The pen then moved across the page in a messy waltz. 

“Zim referred to me as his Tallest after an argument today... Will look into that later... but for now... I should probably apologize to him again and order cinnamon sticks... with extra frosting... as a bonus... apology.” 

Dib flipped his worn notepad closed and shoved it back into his pocket. He then made his way upstairs quickly, the one tiny thing he had to do to finish the Voot Cruiser long forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed my work! Also, Inimoose, if you’re reading this, I really hope I did your AU justice! Thanks so much for inspiring me with your magnificent AU! 
> 
> Also, I wanted to “translate” the jumbled up mess Zim says at the end because I know it can be hard on the eyes to read. 
> 
> “Okay, you have your wrench. I’m going to order food now. Does pizza sound good? Okay, great. Bye.”


End file.
